How many times a week should you REALLY be having sex?

Is there a magic number of times per week the average couple should aim for to keep both partners happy in bed and out? Traditionally, therapists say sex counts for about a quarter of the total happiness of a relationship. Here’s the latest on who’s happiest doing what.

COUPLES WHO HAVE SEX EVERY DAY
Daily sex is a big ask for most busy people and more sex isn’t necessarily a good thing.
One study that asked couples having sex about six times a month to double the frequency had a disastrous effect on their sex lives. They enjoyed sex less and were in worse moods than those who stuck to their norm.

COUPLES WHO HAVE SEX THREE TO FOUR TIMES A WEEK
A 2004 study found the more sex people had, the happier they felt

If you don’t have children, are in the peak of health, going through a great time in your relationship, highly sexed and highly motivated, this could be your magic number.

COUPLES WHO HAVE SEX ONCE A WEEK
The most recent reputable data on Britain’s bedtime habits (NATSAL, 2013) reported most of us have sex around five times a month. The good news is, there’s now research to prove weekly sex isn’t the ‘failure’ lots of couples think it is.

Couples who had sex four or more times a week weren’t any happier than those who did it weekly. Why does this figure hit the jackpot? Because it’s a realistic goal.

COUPLES WHO DON’T HAVE SEX – EVER

There’s an important caveat here: this holds true when both partners are happy not having sex, not when just one person decides to take sex off the table.
But if you’ve both had an honest conversation and decided it’s simply not something you value any longer, sex doesn’t appear to be the ‘must have’ factor for a happy relationship that experts traditionally believed.